Hydration Technology of Albany, Oregon, which makes the membrane, says soldiers should only use urine in an absolute emergency because the membrane is too coarse to filter out urea.
The body will not find this toxic over the short term, says Ed Beaudry, an engineer with HTI, but rehydrating food this way in the long term would cause kidney damage.
There's always a catch isn't there. posted by milovoo at 8:02 AM on July 22, 2004
This puts us one step closer to the stillsuits from Dune. posted by Prospero at 8:09 AM on July 22, 2004
It's just amazing to think that you can dunk your sandwhich baggy into a stinky swamp and still safely eat the "freshly" hydrated food. Pretty cool. ... at least when you look at this in terms of survival. posted by tomplus2 at 8:43 AM on July 22, 2004
Prospero, perhaps Waterworld is closer to where this is going. posted by chicobangs at 9:04 AM on July 22, 2004
Funny thing about the urea. Piss is generaly quite sanitary. I think for short-term, I'd rather use that then water that could have something like krypto-speridium in it. posted by Goofyy at 9:13 AM on July 22, 2004
Oh screw you Prospero. My comment was going to be "You wear your stillsuit... desert fashion."
Angryface. posted by kavasa at 9:57 AM on July 22, 2004
You know what the scientist said after he invented this?
Twinkies are also made in Natick, Massachusetts. Coincidence? posted by LinemanBear at 10:15 AM on July 22, 2004
Doesn't the body require more water to clear urea from the system resulting in greater dehydration than if the soldier just ate dry rations? posted by srboisvert at 10:48 AM on July 22, 2004
"Urea no longer needs the wierding module!" posted by freebird at 11:40 AM on July 22, 2004
According to my brother the soldier, MREs taste like bodily waste anyway. posted by Soliloquy at 12:40 PM on July 22, 2004
Well screw you kavasa, coz I was gonna say feces is processed in the thigh pads! posted by WolfDaddy at 5:46 PM on July 22, 2004
Ha! Statistically speaking, you're probably all drinking a few molecules of my piss. Howzit taste? posted by straight at 9:44 PM on July 22, 2004
Wolf - hunh, well, I guess you win, as that would have been even better.
Witness the natural progression of Dune references. posted by kavasa at 6:12 AM on July 23, 2004
srboisvert - Yes, but since your urine already had enough water in it to clear that urea the first time this is basically neutral. posted by TungstenChef at 6:17 AM on July 23, 2004
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The body will not find this toxic over the short term, says Ed Beaudry, an engineer with HTI, but rehydrating food this way in the long term would cause kidney damage.
There's always a catch isn't there.
posted by milovoo at 8:02 AM on July 22, 2004